Polar Bear Plunge

I am taking this afternoon to map out a game plan for my book - brainstorming and using post-it notes and laying out the sections, chapter titles, and table of contents as clearly as I can at this early stage.  What I know for sure is that I want the overarching theme to be STRONG OVER SMALL and to divide the stories into four sections: Mind (mental health, personality), Body (physical health, surgery, dieting, strength training), Soul (relational and emotional health, learning to allow/embrace strong emotions like grief and anger, rejection stories + growing in relational security), and Spirit (spiritual health, church stories, and ongoing walk with God).  Talking about places where I used to shrink myself, think small, hide, minimize my needs, and make myself smaller... versus how I am learning to embrace a growth mindset and press into my strengths, take up space, speak up for myself, shine, be strong, and live a more meaningful life (for myself and God and others).  Exciting to think about the big picture; it will be challenging for me to write the details, but a good and welcome kind of challenge.

Having said that, I plan to really jump into the regular writing routine (along with the healthier eating and official workout routines) when I get back from Disney World next week!  ...We finished in court by 8:40 this morning, then I went out to grab breakfast since it was well ahead of the 10:30 mark - fun, and now I am home in my cozy PJs listening to the new full-cast Harry Potter audiobook #1, and I decided to catch up on blogging because I always feel better when life is appropriately documented.  What a fantastic start to the day!! =)

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So rewinding the clock a week to last Thursday, it was New Year's Day, and Chettles decided to host the first annual Polar Bear Plunge event!!  This = a post-jumping photo:  Kyle, Katherine (kudos to her for being the only woman brave enough to try this!), Evan, Chettles, Tate, Foster, Uriah, and David!

Karli Marie made tortilla soup, chili, mac n' cheese, and Olive Garden's zuppa toscana soup, along with pigs-in-a-blanket, cornbread, focaccia bread, and various soup toppings!  So good!!  I grabbed cupcakes and brownies from Reasor's, and Katherine and Melissa brought homemade cookies.  Needless to say, everyone found something they enjoyed and we ate well!

Parker Elizabeth and I opted for a hard pass on the cold pool invitation. =)

It was fun to watch, though!!

The moment of truth! lol  (Uriah jumped in when his dad had turned around to catch him. ❤)

Girls table - I had a good talk with Laura Allison, Teresa, Jessica, Sarah, and Katherine (who's not in this particular pic).

Fortunately, the general outdoor weather wasn't as bitterly cold as the pool, so it was a nice day for bouncy house fun for the kids!

I hung back for a bit to chat with the Wilsons about our upcoming Disney trip... then I grabbed Laurannae cupcakes for myself and the fam (then drove to Mom and Dad's to share them).

After a mildly sad NYE, it was a lovely first day of 2026!

❤ ❤ ❤